Thanksgiving in Michigan, part 1...

I figured I'd sum up our trip to Michigan in a couple different parts. That way I don't have a HUGE post :)


We left at like 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning for our long 10 hour drive to Michigan. It was a pretty scenic drive, but by the end we were pretty restless. Even Suzi was getting sick of being in the car...

Poor pup. She had her big crate in between the back seat and front seat, but she DID have the entire back seat to herself! Lucky for us, she is really good in the car!

We got to Garet's sister's house by 6:00ish (there was an hour time difference) and she had a wonderful dinner waiting on us. We were greeted by her and her husband and their 3 kids. There was snow on the ground when we got there! It was so neat to see "real" snow! We got to visit some before we crashed for the night.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. It was pretty outside, but it was FREEZING! We all bundled up and went to a park to go on a long walk with Suzi. My mom had given us a coat for Suzi a year or two ago and she has never worn it - for the record, we are not the people that put clothes on our dog! - but it was super cold and I thought it would be cute...

I was surprised that she didn't even try to get it off! Suzi had no clue what to do with all the snow, but as soon as the kids started kicking it she quickly realized that she could eat it, so, that's what she did.

We got back to the house and got ready for Thanksgiving dinner. I don't have any pictures because my camera was broken... the pictures I did get (that are on this post) I got by luck. My camera's screen broke, so I could take pictures - I just couldn't look at the pictures I took. Anywho - we had a wonderful dinner, and it was so nice to visit with everyone!

After dinner we were informed that we had to go next door to the neighbors house to see the Christmas lighting. Huh? Garet's brother-in-law, Mark, asked us if we'd seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation... you know the one, with the Griswold's... OF COURSE we had! Well that was their neighbor...

The picture doesn't even do it justice! I couldn't get everything into one shot!! There were lights EVERYWHERE, things were moving, there was music playing... you name it! It was hilarious! AND everyone around knew about it... so while we were standing there looking at the house, there were people driving by, and walking down the street to look at it! Come to find out, they starting putting up these decorations in October! Wow! It was great!

Off to Michigan...

Well I just looked at the weather in Michigan and tonight they are calling for snow flurries. Tomorrow and Wednesday it will be sunny, with a high of 38. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they are calling for "partly snowy conditions" and a high of 35.

It'll be cold, but Michigan here we come!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Short week...

I have no pictures because my camera is broken... just to prepare you for a pictureless post.

This week, I only have to work for 2 days!! Whoopee!! So, today is pretty much my Thursday. I am so excited that Thanksgiving is almost here!

This past weekend was nice and relaxing. Garet and I didn't do too much. We did go check out Best Buy to narrow down our choice of camera. We are going to shop the day after Thanksgiving to hopefully get a good deal on a camera. I did find one I liked. I wanted to have it picked out so I didn't have to search for one on on Black Friday - cause I'm sure it will be crazy! I think I am going to get a Canon. It isn't a fancy one with lens, or anything like that. It is just your simple point and shoot camera, but I am excited about it :)

Garet went out this weekend with his chainsaw and chopped up some firewood. So we are prepared for the cold weather now! I LOVE having fires!

For Thanksgiving, we are traveling to Michigan to spend the holiday with one of Garet's sisters and her family. Right now, it is snowing and they are expecting about 2 inches. That should make for an interesting car ride... It will be neat to see some snow though, like REAL snow. We just don't get much snow in Alabama - or even in North Carolina when we lived there. Right now Suzi is getting a bath at Petsmart so she will be a clean, good smelling guest.

10 on Tuesday...

1. First off, we LOVE having a recliner! It is wonderful! Second, Suzi likes the recliner too.... yes, she has decided that when we left home she would rock in it herself *sigh* I came home yesterday to a hairy seat cushion. Lucky for us it is leather and easily brushed off, also lucky for us, she didn't scratch it or tear it! She was yelled at, and today there was no evidence of her being on the chair again. She must have seen how much we enjoyed rocking in it!

2. Sunday morning, Garet and I had nursery duty at church. This was the first Sunday that we have done this. We decided to volunteer with the kiddos to get more involved in church, and it is also good experience for us. It went really well. We were in the "Inchworm World" room. The kids were just starting to walk, and they all did really well - we had one meltdown, but overall everyone was very happy.

3. Garet and I had a date on Sunday night, and we went to see the movie Eagle Eye. It was really good. It was packed with action! I love getting to go out to a movie every once in a while, we even got popcorn! Although, I have to admit, theater popcorn just isn't as good as Boy Scout popcorn.... and I'm not just saying that :)

4. Speaking of, Garet is having a super busy work week. They are getting shipments of ALL the popcorn people have ordered! I think they are swimming in it at his office!

5. I got my camera out this weekend to take pictures and guess what? It's broken! I am so upset! It still takes pictures, but the whole screen is completely white... so you can't see what you are taking a picture of. Since we have to have one, I figure I will just wait till the day after Thanksgiving and buy a good one. I am soooo mad about it! And it was my fault! I had it in my purse and dropped my purse... so sad...

6. So, the day after Thanksgiving... since I will be getting out in the craziness anyway I found the website of who is having what on sale that day. But I have heard that stores are starting their sales early. Hopefully I can find a good camera!

7. I just can't believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT week!! We will be heading up to Michigan to spend the holiday with Garet's sister and her family. We are so excited! I think I just might freeze though - I have heard that they had snow flurries predicted up there this past week.

8. Just in time for the cold weather up north - I just got a new coat! I am going to be prepared for the snow!!

9. Last year at this time, Garet and I were preparing to move into our house. Again, I can't believe how fast this year as flown by! I think I say that every year though. Anyway, we are coming up on the end of our year warranty for a lot of things in our house. Since we built it, they fix a lot of things within the first year. So we have to make our list :)

10. I find it really hard to get things done at work when I know I am going out of town next week! Is that just me? I find myself trying to decide (in my head) what to pack and what to make and when to clean and when to do laundry and, and, and.... I am a planner if you haven't figured that out!

Early Christmas...

Guess who got an early Christmas present????

We went out today and got a new recliner! We have wanted one for a long time, we decided to make that our "big" gift for each other for Christmas - and we just couldn't wait :) Here is Garet in our new chair:
And here is me:

So far we've had a great weekend! Although, it is FREEZING - and I'm not just saying that, it has literally been freezing! Yesterday the high was 69 and today the high was 47! We went and hung out with our neighbors tonight, we had a good time. Now we are home watching some t.v. and taking turns reclining!

Today...

Today is my Dad's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

We are going to see him and my mom in a few weeks :) I am so excited! After Thanksgiving, Garet and I are going to catch up with them in Gatlinburg for a weekend. I miss my family so much!! Hope you have a wonderful day Dad!!

Saturday...

This morning I woke up and looked in the backyard... It was covered with leaves! You couldn't hardly even see the ground! It really looks like fall now!

Suzi and I are having another girls weekend. Garet is away for work. He is actually camping out in the middle of Talladega speedway with a bunch of scouts. They estimated between 8,000 and 12,000 people that were going to be camping this weekend!

So, I have been taking advantage of this beautiful fall weather! There was not a cloud in the sky, so Suzi and I hung out outside most of the morning. The trees are almost all finished changing colors. It is so pretty to look up our hill at all the trees on the mountain. This one is in our backyard.

Suzi about blends in with all the leaves :)

I also went and bought some Pansies to plant out front. I didn't get around to planting them today, that will be tomorrow's project. And Garet will be home tomorrow!

Voting...

It's Election Day!! GO VOTE!!!

I was there at 6:45 this morning and didn't get out of there until 8:30! But I did it, and I'm done thinking about it now :) I tried to miss the craziness of it all - little did I know that everyone with the last names A - F decided to vote at the same time this morning. I was almost at the door and they started calling all last names except A - F. Go figure. It was very organized though.

This past Sunday our preacher talked briefly about the election, and he made a point to say that no matter who is elected, God is in control! That is something I think a lot of people need to hear, including me. It is so easy to get wrapped up in all the hype of politics, especially when that is ALL that is on t.v., radio, even calling my cell phone!

So, go vote! Hope your wait is shorter than mine was :)

Costume Party...

We had a lot of fun on Halloween! We didn't get any trick-or-treaters before we left for the party, so I have a TON of candy left! We were White Trash

Garet had some fun teeth, but I didn't get a picture of him wearing them... There were soo many creative outfits! We had a sponge and a shower, Uncle Rico and Deb (if you've seen Napoleon Dynamite), Fred and Wilma Flintstone, the planet Saturn and a martian.... It was a lot of fun, I didn't get too many pictures but you can see what I did get here. You can see some friends posts with pictures here and here.

I can't believe it is November already! This year has flown by!

Happy Halloween...

Tonight Garet and I were invited to a Halloween party! I am excited - we haven't gotten all dressed up for Halloween since we lived on St. John. We finally finished our costumes last night - I won't tell what we're being yet though!

For the party tonight we have to bring a pumpkin (to carve) and a treat. I enjoy cooking and baking, but I enjoy cooking and baking new and fun recipes more! So I looked all over to find something fun and halloweenie. I finally decided to make "witch fingers" and here they are:

Aren't they funny?! I think they turned out pretty good! They were really easy to make - the nails are almonds, and the blood (under the nails) is just gel food coloring. After these were finished Garet said they needed something more. Like more blood. He suggested that I put some blood (food coloring) at the bottom of the fingers. Well we got a little carried away...

how gross! :)

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

Sitting by the fire...

This morning when I left the house to come to work it was 35 degrees outside! I have said before that I am a BIG fan of warm weather, so this was not fun for me! I am okay with it starting to get cool but when it is FREEZING I just want to stay inside and wait for spring! Last night it got pretty cold out, so Garet got a fire going. I really love having a wood burning fireplace! And I love to sit in front of it and get really hot... last year we found out that Suzi and I would be competing over the same seat!

She won last night :) But only because I was making a Halloween treat for a party tomorrow night! I will post pictures of that tomorrow.

A Portrait...

I don't think I have put these pictures on here yet.
Back when we went to Charlotte, I got this portrait of Suzi...

Isn't that funny?! One of my mom's friends drew it from a picture my mom had of Suzi. It's pretty good, although I still don't know where I would hang it! Suzi wouldn't hardly sit still long enough to get her picture taken with it, so we had a few bloopers...

Weekend Recap...

Garet had to work this weekend, well he actually got to go camping but he did it for work. He left Saturday morning and was gone until this afternoon, so it was just us girls this weekend. We had a nice, productive time too :)




First project: drapes. We had drapes hung in our living room over our double doors that go outside. The drapes matched the walls - so basically the bone wall color that the house came with. Since we painted, the new color made the drapes look a little yellow, and kinda dirty (at least that was my opinion). So I decided to get white drapes. They didn't have any for as tall as I needed them, so I had to redo the curtain rod to move it down some so I could use the new drapes. This meant that I had to spackle where the curtain rods used to be, then repaint over it, and THEN rehang the curtain rods. I am very obsessive when it comes to measuring and making sure things are even and the correct length. So imagine my surprise when after I did ALL this work I hang the curtains and they are still about an inch too short!! I don't know how that happened - so I had to cut and sew, and anyway they work and look great now! and I love them! But I didn't get a picture, sorry.

Next project: pictures. I decided to work on the picture wall I had mentioned I wanted to put in our dining room. My mother-in-law gave us a letter "B", which was gold, I painted it black and then just worked the frames around it. I wasn't planning on actually having it finished, but the more I tried to figure out how to make it look, the more I just wanted to hang it and stop thinking about it! So I just did it, here is a picture




I was trying to decide if I wanted to do black and white pictures, or color. I can't decide, but I think I am going to do color. I love black and whites, but there is just something about color pictures that I think adds something. Plus, with such a blank wall, I think color pictures might add a little pop to the wall.

Another project: Halloween. I needed to work on our Halloween costume. Since last time I mentioned our costume, we have changed our minds, and are now going to be something different. I will tell you what it is next weekend.

Suzi and I took advantage of the wonderful weather today and played outside. There was not a cloud in the sky! It was beautiful!


We had a good girls weekend, but it sure is nice when Garet gets home! He had fun too - their camp was a Halloween theme, so I think some of the kids got scared. It's funny - Suzi knows "mommy" and "daddy" so anytime Garet is coming home I say, "There's Daddy" or "Daddy's home" and she knows exactly what I mean. This is her waiting for daddy:


I even got a crock pot cookin' for dinner tonight. Yummy! And now, I am going to join my husband and watch the World Series.

Weekend painting...

On Friday after work, I stopped and picked up 3 paint samples. When I got home I put it on 3 different walls in our living and dining rooms. They are all shades of gray/blue. We decided to leave it that way and see what we thought that night and the next day.
Saturday, we decided that we liked the one all the way to the left the best (it's called Winters Day). The middle one I was afraid would be too bright, and the one on the right I thought would be too dark - it was called "Gray Gray" so it was for sure gray! Still hesitant, we decided to just paint one wall and see how we felt about it. So we painted one of our dining room wall (the easiest to paint, and the shortest wall!)
We loved it! Especially against the white doors and molding. Although, in some lights it looks a little more blue than I would like, BUT I think with any gray it is going to look more blue depending on if it is in the shade, or sun. While Garet was on the second coat, we thought - why are we just doing one wall? Let's just DO IT and paint the whole room! We already had all the paint out and brushes and ladder, etc. We liked the color, and you really can't picture a room in a color until it actually is in that color! Plus if you absoultely hate it, it can be changed. So at about 3:30 on Sunday we started taking everything off the walls and rearranging furniture. Oh, by the way, we had to finish it Sunday because with Garet's work schedule he would be getting home late on Monday and Tuesday - and I can't reach the ceiling on the tall wall (I'm kinda short like that.) So here is Garet taking things off the wall
If you look closely in the picture above you can see Suzi sitting outside. Poor dog, I really don't think she understands that she is a dog (that maybe my fault actually......) Anyway, she seriously sat like this the WHOLE time we painted! Most dogs run around, enjoy their freedom, chase a bird or something, not our Suzi - she just sat by the door.

We finished painting everything Sunday night - and yesterday we got everything put back. I am happy about it, but it is a lot more blue that I had thought I wanted. I guess we'll live with it for a while and see if it grows on us. Here it is:


You can tell in these pictures how the walls look different colors depending on the light. In the last one (our dining room) the wall without the window tends to always look less blue than the others.

Oh - also on that wall in our dining room - I am going to have to put something on that wall. We did have a big ole picture, that I hated, but we needed something to fill the area. I told Garet that I am NOT putting that picture back on our wall - which he is fine with as long as I have something else to go there. I really want to do a picture wall right here - I just have to figure out how :)

Strawberries...

Oh, no...........
Guess what we have at work today...
Yep, and they are GOOD! I already know I am putting in some extra time working out this afternoon :) But they are so worth it!

I will have to post tomorrow on our weekend, and our new paint color!!

Suzi toys and the weekend...

Does anyone remember this post? It was last month on Suzi's birthday - she got this cool toy and was OBSESSED with it! Here is a picture when she first got it:

I was worried that it wouldn't last a day - I think Suzi's game is that she tries to figure out how fast she can destroy a toy! Well, to my surprise it lasted longer than that! It lasted a whole month! Slowly she tore the strips apart until she was left with this:

By this point I obviously had to throw it away! :)

On another note, the weekend is here again! I have decided that I am going to pick a paint color for our living/dining room! I have a couple colors that I have in mind, I am just going to get samples so I can see how it looks on the wall. I am very much a neutral girl - I like the walls neutral so I can add color in other places (flowers, candles, pillows...). My husband, on the other hand, is tired of neutral walls! I convinced him to let me paint our bedroom a tan color, but I think I am going to have to break down and find a color to do the rest of the house. Right now our walls are the bone color that they paint all new houses. So I am looking into grays and blues. A subtle gray/blue though!

Crafty...

I just wish I knew what it was like to truly be crafty. You all see how excited I get when I think I did something crafty :) I like to blame it on not having enough time, but I found some cute things that really do look easy! That's not to say I will get around to doing any of them, but how cute are these for fall?

yeah, this one is probably tough, but it's pretty

I really like these!

haha... the last one is a joke - that is for sure NOT easy, but how pretty do those pumpkins look? I tend to just buy already done decorations rather than make my own, but sometimes that ends up being a lot more expensive! I haven't really accumulated many decorations yet. I figure I will wait until after the holidays then rack up on the sales!

Fly by weekend...

Garet and I had a really good weekend. I am always SO excited on Fridays, but then by Sunday it seems like the weekend went by way too fast!

Saturday we hung around the house most of the morning. I love getting up and knowing that there isn't anywhere that I need to be! We ran a few errands, then Suzi had a playdate with our neighbors dog, Riley. They are so funny together. It is neat to see the different personalities that dogs have. You could tell that Riley really wanted to play with Suzi, so he would sit next to her ball. When Suzi would come over, he pretended not to see her - then she would put her paw on his back and he would jump up and they would start running around the backyard. Oh how carefree to be a pup! Saturday night we went over to a friends house to watch the Auburn game. Garet and have have still yet to commit to a team. I talked about it earlier, how when you live here you MUST be either for Alabama or Auburn. Most of our friends are Auburn, so we tend to pull more for them. It was nice getting together and hanging out, even though their team lost.

After church on Sunday Garet and I went to watch our team play! We wore the colors, we were pumped! We got to Buffulo Wild Wings, and actually met a fellow Panther's fan!

But we lost too.... sad.

Oh - and I don't know if I've mentioned but I bought a second painting to match the first one that I hung in our living room. I got confirmation that it was shipped over a week ago! So I called to see what the heck was up with them, and turns out it is lost!?! So they are shipping another one. I am supposed to be getting it tomorrow, so we'll see. I am really excited to get it though - we need something to cover our big blank wall in the living room!

So, all is well in the Beane house! We have a Halloween party to go to so we are trying to put together a costume. I won't tell what it is, but I will say It is all Garet's idea!!

T.G.I.F...

IT'S FRIDAY! Yay! And we don't really have weekend plans! Yay! I am looking forward to having nothing to do (can you tell?) It hasn't been a bad week, just long, and it is BEAUTIFUL outside, so I really don't want to be in here working!

So, it must be a good time for people to be getting puppies - a friend of mine from Charlotte just got a cute little pup. Some of our good friends here got a Lab puppy, you can see him here, he is SO super cute! Then my brother got a pup, her name is Macy. She is a boxer - he sent a few pictures of her, here's one:

I can remember when our Suzi was just a pup. She turned 3 last month, and you tend to forget the tough puppy training days and just remember the cute, floppy, puppy part :) When we got Suzi, the owners didn't know who her daddy was - the mom was a Doberman, and from Suzi's coloring they assumed that she had Boxer in her. But now that she is grown we think she has some German Shepard, and who knows what else! I actually found a couple of pictures of her as a pup in my old email account:

This was at our house in Wilmington, N.C. Suzi's first day home.

So cute! But I am so glad the potty training, crying at night days are over! :)

Catch up...

I haven't blogged in a while, so I will just play catch up! Things have been going well for Garet and me, we have just been BUSY! Let's see what's been going on:

- I am in two bible studies, one every Thursday night and one every other Tuesday. The one on Tuesday's is a women's bible study and we are going through the book, The Power of a Praying Wife. It is a wonderful book! It is nice to get together with the girls too. Thursday we are working our way through the book of Romans.

- This past Thursday we met for bible study, but ended up watching the Vice President Debate. I have never been much into politics, but it is hard not to get caught up in it these days!

- Friday we went to dinner and a movie with our Sunday School class. We saw the movie Fireproof. Wow! That was a great movie - I definitely recommend it! There were so many sniffles in the theater!

- On Saturday, Garet and I went shoe shopping! I realized that I was in NEED of some boots! (yes I said need, not want!) I am pretty obsessed with Shoe Carnival - they always have buy one get one 1/2 off! So obviously I have to get two! And their shoes are good prices anyway - and I am all about a good deal! Then we went to buy a good vacuum. We could probably make a whole 'nother puppy with all the hair Suzi sheds off - so we were in need of a really good vacuum. When we got home with it, I used our old vacuum in the living room. Then used the new vacuum to go over what I just did and it picked up soooo much more hair!!! Gross! So then I had to do the whole house! Oh and after all of that we went up to Monte Sano Mountain and hiked.

- Yesterday, after church, I decided to switch out our closets and put up all the summer stuff and break out all of the fall/winter stuff. Even though it has been reaching almost 90 degrees lately... Anywho I got all of that finished while Garet converted part of our garage into a gym (he just has some free weights and a bar and stuff). I went out to the backyard to read some, I was peaceful, and not bothering anyone, when all of the sudden --- my wonderful husband attacks me with a watergun!!!! Oh it was on! We were soaked by the time our guns were out of water! It was a nice break - and I needed the cooling off!

- Last night I made some Chocolate Cinnamon Bars. um... yum. yeah they were as good as they sound.

- At work we are trying to get everything in order for the Parade of Homes that is starting this weekend. We have over 100 houses signed up to be in it, and we have our Showcase Home that is opening this Friday - it is really nice!

- I ordered another painting for our living room and I just got confirmation that it has been shipped! So after that is hung we should be able to paint! I can't wait!

So that is it in a nutshell - Have you noticed how much I like to use the links? Just for fun, here is another one - I think this blog is too funny!

Happy Monday!